What’s the Best State to Legally Grow Marijuana?

Where’s the best place in America for you as an individual to legally grow marijuana?

As of early 2017, an individual can legally grow marijuana in California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Nevada, Alaska, Arizona, Massachusetts, Michigan, Maine, the District of Columbia (D.C.) and Hawaii.

In most states where state law allows you to legally grow marijuana plants, you’re limited to 4-6 plants total.

If you grow from non-feminized seed, for example, you have to plant double the number of seeds that you intend to carry into bloom phase, because half or more of those plants could be males.

Or maybe you’re into marijuana cloning.

You maintain at least one marijuana motherplant, and take multiple cuttings to ensure a minimum number of healthy, rooted clones. You need to grow more than six plants.

But there are several states you can legally grow marijuana and have a productive, worthwhile grow op. Let’s take a look…

CALIFORNIA: Until the California legislature destroyed Prop. 215 (the landmark medical marijuana law passed by voters in 1996), medical marijuana growers in California had the best deal of all.

Prop. 215 was great for growers until Senate Bill 420 came along to limit you to a maximum of six blooming plants or a maximum of 12 grow phase plants.

You’d get a doctor’s recommendation and government-issued card, but once you did, and especially if you were a designated caregiver for other patients, you could legally grow dozens of cannabis plants.

In California, your best bet is to qualify as a medical marijuana grower.

Qualified California medical marijuana growers are allowed to have a maximum of eight ounces of cured cannabis.

Some California counties have outright bans on cannabis cultivation.

Under new medical cannabis laws, a California medical marijuana patient is only allowed 100 square feet for cultivation.

If the patient is a caregiver cultivating for a maximum of five other patients, the grower is allowed 500 square feet of cultivation space.

The California law allows a grower to be given compensation for actual out of pocket expenses related to growing.

In theory (and nobody is yet sure how the new California medical marijuana laws will be enforced), you could fit about 20 full-size cannabis plants into a 100 square foot grow op, and about 100 full-size marijuana plants into the 500 square foot space.

In Washington, D.C., for example, where voters approved the Initiative 71 marijuana law in 2014, you can only grow a total of six marijuana plants, but only three can be in bloom phase!

If you share a home with other qualified growers in D.C., the total plants per home can’t exceed 12, no matter how many people legally grow marijuana there.

If you want to get paid for your marijuana, you can’t.

Initiative 71 only allows a maximum one-ounce transaction, with no compensation provide to the cannabis grower.

And if you’re into making bubblehash, dry sift, live resins, dabs, or other “hashish,” it’s illegal in D.C. just like it is in most states where marijuana is supposedly legalized.

In Colorado, things aren’t much better for people who want to legally grow marijuana at home.

If you qualify for a medical marijuana certification, you can only grow six plants total.

If you grow for recreational use, you can grow six cannabis plants, but only three can be in bloom phase.

Possession of an ounce or less of hashish or cannabis concentrates is legal in Colorado, but anything more and you’re guilty of a misdemeanor or felony, depending on the weight.

Nor can a Colorado home marijuana grower legally sell marijuana.

In Washington State, there are two ways you can legally grow marijuana.

One is to register with the state’s medical marijuana program, which was enacted in 1998.

You have to get a doctor to certify that you suffer from one of the following conditions: cachexia, cancer, Crohn’s Disease, Glaucoma, Hepatitis C, HIV or AIDS, chronic pain, muscle spasms, nausea, PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), seizures, or TBI (traumatic brain injury).

Registered medical marijuana patients can legally grow marijuana, but only a total of six plants.

You can legally possess a maximum of eight ounces of cannabis produced from your marijuana plants.

If the health care professional agrees that you need more marijuana than that, you might be allowed to legally grow as many as 15 marijuana plants, and possess up to 16 ounces.

If you’re a qualified medical marijuana patient who chooses not to participate in the state’s official registry of medical marijuana patients, you can only grow a total of 6 plants and possess no more than 6 ounces of marijuana.

In neighboring Oregon, your best bet to legally grow marijuana is to qualify for the state’s medical marijuana program.

Oregon’s program was written with input from marijuana growers, which is why it has a smarter approach to plant numbers.

In Oregon, a qualifying patient can grow a maximum of six bloom phase medical marijuana plants, and at the same time have a maximum of 18 grow phase plants.

You can possess a maximum two pounds of medical marijuana.

If you don’t qualify for the Oregon medical marijuana program, you’re allowed to grow a maximum of four plants, and possess a maximum of eight ounces of your own homegrown marijuana.

New Mexico has a medical marijuana law that was first activated in 2007.

There’s a long list of qualifying medical conditions, and if you do qualify, you’re allowed to grow 16 plants… but only four can be in bloom phase at the same time.

You’re allowed to possess six ounces of cured cannabis.

Nevada’s marijuana cultivation and possession laws are a mess.

Your best bet is to qualify for the state medical marijuana registry, but the list of qualifying medical conditions is way too short.

You’re allowed to grow a total of 12 marijuana plants that can all be in bloom at the same time, but the law adds in a stupid restriction that you can’t legally grow marijuana if you’re within 25 miles of a state-licensed medical marijuana dispensary.

But the law says if you cultivate marijuana strains that the local medical marijuana dispensary doesn’t have, you’re allowed to grow marijuana even if you’re within 25 miles of the dispensary.

In Maine, you’re allowed to grow a large number of young seedlings and clones, but can only have six plants blooming at any one time.

In Massachusetts, you’re allowed to grow six plants total. Read here for a detailed explanation of Massachusetts marijuana growing laws.

In Michigan, qualified medical marijuana patients are allowed to grow a total of 12 marijuana plants, and they can all be in bloom at the same time.

However, you’re only allowed to possess 2.5 ounces of cured marijuana.

In Hawaii, there’s a list of 10 medical conditions that qualify you for medical marijuana status.

You’re allowed to grow seven plants, and possess four ounces of cannabis.

Alaska has legalized medical and recreational marijuana growing. You’re allowed a total of six plants, but only three can be in bloom phase.

You’re allowed to possess one ounce of cannabis.

Arizona has a medical marijuana law that allows you to grow 12 plants, but only if you’re more than 25 miles away from a state-licensed marijuana dispensary.

There are some important overall facts to note when it comes to the best states to legally grow marijuana:

In almost every state, including most of the ones mentioned in this article, there are still severe penalties for people who grow, possess, or sell marijuana without a medical marijuana qualification.

In all 50 states, police can arrest you for growing marijuana regardless of whether you’re a legal grower or not. If you’re arrested, you have to go to court to seek dismissal of the charges or to win acquittal at trial.

State marijuana laws are subject to interpretation and revision. They’re frequently changed, rescinded, altered, or otherwise tampered with by lawmakers or by legal precedents that come from court decisions.

In almost all states where you can legally grow marijuana, the laws place dumb limitations on how and if you can legally grow marijuana outdoors.

Each state has laws governing cannabis concentrates, medibles, tinctures, hashish, butane honey oil, and other cannabis products. In most cases, those products are strictly regulated and may be illegal.

Landlords, employers, courts, and others are legally allowed to discriminate against marijuana growers and users. The limited exception to this is Hawaii, which passed anti-discrimination laws. Read here for more about the Hawaii protections.

The advice in this article about where to legally grow marijuana is mainly intended for black market home marijuana growers who have less than ten lights. If you want to be a state-licensed, large-scale commercial grower, you have to have a lot of money to pay the fees and comply with the regulations.

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